As for the Falcons, they held the 2nd seed in the NFC, after winning the NFC South with a 11-5 record. Atlanta started their playoff run by beating the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round, 36–20. The following week, in the last NFL game ever played at the Georgia Dome, they defeated the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game, 44–21. This will mark the 2nd time ever that the Falcons are playing in the Super Bowl, losing their only other appearance, Super Bowl 33 to the Denver Broncos. Atlanta is now 9-12 all time in the playoffs/.
This will mark the first ever meeting between the two teams in the playoffs. They never faced each other this year during the regular season. New England is 7-6 lifetime against the Falcons and have won each of the last four meetings between the teams. The AFC has won two straight titles and three of the last four games.
As for this game, let's break it down shall we. Atlanta is coming in as the 8th highest scoring team in the history of the game. They lead the NFL in points this year with 540. The other teams that are ahead of them are as follows: 2000 St. Louis Rams (540), 2011 New Orleans Saints (547), 1998 Minnesota Vikings (556), 2012 New England Patriots (557), 2011 Green Bay Packers (560), 2007 New England Patriots (589) and the 2013 Denver Broncos (606). There's a patter here with those teams ahead of the Falcons. They all failed to finish off the season with a championship. So the numbers really aren't in the favor of the Falcons going into this game. There's also another stat that won't really put well into the favor of the Falcons. This will be the sixth Super Bowl since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to feature a #1 scoring offense against a #1 scoring defense, with the team with the #1 scoring defense winning four of the previous five matchups. So Atlanta, things don't really look so hot for you right now, if you base it off the stats that I just listed.
Still, I think Atlanta has a real shot in this game. With the numbers the offense put up this year, lead by Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. Chances are Julio Jones is going to be covered pretty well by the Patriots secondary. Ryan does have other options. Ryan can try and find Mohamed Sanu, Levine Toilolo and Austin Hooper. Plus his running backs, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, who can not only run the ball but they can catch passes as well. freeman maybe the better runner of the two backs in Atlanta, Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan has been known to use both backs with regularity and mix them into the offensive game. One of the biggest things that's going to give the Fzalcons the edge is the fact that the Falcons will avoid turnovers and consistently score. Atlanta's defense is going to be in for a tough task but I think they can stand up to the challenge. Dan Quinn has a solid group of defenders that he can work with. The Falcons' secondary has compensated well for the loss of shutdown corner Desmond Trufant. Their green linebackers have grown up fast and get around the field in a hurry, led by pass-rushing beast Vic Beasley Jr. Atlanta is going to have to really focus in on the wide receivers for the Patriots, which is something that the Steelers didn't do two weeks ago.
This is nothing new for the Patriots. This group, especially Brady and Belichick, they've done this six times before, so they kinda know what they're doing here. Both are looking to ring up their 5th Super Bowl title, which will give each the record for most by a quarterback and a head coach. New England has a solid running game that could possibly even matchup with Atlanta's. Dion Lewis and James White are being used in somewhat the same way in the pass game as what Atlanta does, and Lewis has taken over as the every-down running back. LeGarrette Blount is the short yardage and finish-the-game bruiser. Patriots OC Josh McDaniels is no slouch, he knows exactly what he's doing with running this offense. Oh yeah, the Patriots have a first ballot hall of famer under center in in Tom Brady taking the snaps under center. Tom Brady knows what he's doing on a football field, look at two weeks ago against the Steelers. New England always finds a way to win with the weapons they have in the passing game. No Gronk? No Problem. They still have Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell , plus filling in nicely for Gronk has been Martellus Bennett. Then there's the Pats defense. Matt Patricia has done a fantastic job with the New England D. They do something that Atlatna has a little trouble with. That is being able to disguise their coverages with and throw off an offense. New England is really good at that.
This is going to be a shootout but I'm taking Atlanta in this game. Sure New England is good, there's no denying that the Patriots have a great team. But Atlanta has played just as well this year as the Patriots have. New England will try to shut down Julio, but Atlanta has other weapons and will be able to neutralize what the Pats defense can do. Its going to be close but Atlanta is going to come out on top.
Prediction: Atlanta Falcons 34, New England Patriots 31
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